The Last of Us may have a point about dangerous fungi

And it’s our fault

In the video games of The Last of Us as well as the new hit show running on HBO based on those very same games, the Ophiocordyceps fungus infects people and makes life in general very unpleasant even for those unaffected.

While we generally shake our heads whenever we see the premises of such post-apocalyptic games, series, or movies, The Last of Us might have a point that should make us pause for a moment, especially because we are culprits.

Dangerous fungal infections have been on the rise in recent years and this trend is set to continue in that direction, a growing number of publications suggests according to WSJ.

See, human bodies are far too hot for most fungi to thrive, which makes us very resistant against them and protects us from many dangerous infections. However, due to climate change and rising temperatures in many regions of the world, some species of fungi are able undergo a sort of turbo-evolution to find a way to survive. This was recently shown in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which tracked a higher rate of changes in the genomes of one dangerous species at higher temperatures. This may enable them to adapt to the rising heat, eventually enabling them to survive human body temperatures.

While being a fascinating window into evolution, this phenomenon may already contribute to rising death rates from fungi infections.

Other factors include rising numbers of people with weakened immune systems, which are far more vulnerable to the effects of such infections, as well as the lack of effective medication that is not also harmful to the human body. Killing fungi without harming the host is pretty difficult.

Ophiocordyceps, which so prominently features in The Last of Us, is a real type of fungus. It can infect insects, disable, and kill them – there is no known case of it ever infecting a human. In the setting, rising temperatures also led to Ophiocordyceps becoming a pathogen that can infect humans, which eventually ran out of control.

So while it may seem far fetched at first glance, the games and the show have a very real point about dangerous fungi – and add another reason to the huge pile of reasons why stopping climate change is a pretty good idea for humankind.